SNP and the Tories are as bad as each other, says Lib Dem leader
The Liberal Democrats’ leader has claimed the Conservatives and SNP are “as bad as each other”.
Sir Ed Davey today tore into the parties governing in Westminster and Holyrood, and accused them of not focusing on issues that are relevant to the public.
Speaking before his speech at the Lib Dem Scottish conference today, Sir Ed suggested the two parties were “distracted”.
He said: “The vast majority of people are worried about their jobs, social care, their health, the environment, and it’s the Lib Dems who are talking about that time and time again.
“The SNP and Tories are f o c usi ng on i s s ues which are not going to help solve Covid, are not going to help solve our economic crisis. “I d e s p a i r s o m e t i m e s a b o u t b o t h t h e S NP a n d t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e s , t h e y a r e a s bad a s e a c h ot her. “They want to fight on an issue that isn’t relevant to Scottish people or Scottish businesses today.
“There is a crisis like we’ve never seen before, and why, o h, why t he S NP a nd t he Tories have to be at each other's throats on a constitutional issue when neither of their solutions will fix the immediate problems facing Scottish people.
“It is another distinctive part of our message, we are the only true federal party.
“If we get into the constitutional debate, which I do think is less significant given the severe jobs crisis and health crisis, if we get into that we have a distinctive position.”
T h e K i n g s t o n MP, wh o became Lib Dem l eader i n August, added his party was the only one that supported Scotland being in both the European Union and the UK.
He i nsisted his part y can offer voters a “more attractive proposition” than the SNP, which he suggested just wants to get rid of the “shockingly incompetent” Boris Johnson.
Sir Ed added that their “distinctive” proposals for a federal UK would give Scots more power but also keep the “precious partnership” of nations together.
He explained: “We t hink there are other positive alternatives, we think a federal future is very positive, it would enable Scotland to have much greater control over its future but benefit from the partnership, which also has so many advantages.
“I can understand why they want to appeal to an argument that people want an alternative to Boris Johnson and his shockingly incompetent government.
“But our family of nations have been around much longer than one government.”
He also backed his par t y to make gains in the Holyrood elections, despite sitting fourth in the polls. He insisted: “We have got huge potential, and as our voice gets heard more and more in the run up to the Holyrood elections we are very confident we will see gains.
“We will be putting a ver y positive agenda, focusing on the issues we think are uppermost in people’s minds as they
live through this horror. We won’t allow ourselves to be distracted, I do think what the SNP and others are talking
about with respect to constitutional issues is a distraction.”